New Supreme Court Ruling Can Affect Value of Issued Patents

The U.S. Supreme Court’s April 30, 2007 decision in KSR v. Teleflex established a more “flexible” approach to obviousness under U.S. patent law, and it could lead to new challenges to the validity of issued patents.  Narrow, focused patents may be of higher value now so long as they cover a desired product or service, because narrow patents may be more likely to survive an obviousness challenge.  When assessing the strength of a patent portfolio, a review of each patent’s scope is even more essential to determine how much value a patent can bring to the business.  A full summary of the Court’s opinion can be found at http://www.pepperlaw.com/pepper/publications_update.cfm?rid=1123.0.